Quotes from Marcus Tullius Cicero

There is nothing so ridiculous absurd* but some philosopher has said it.

To be ignorant of what happened before you were born is to be ever a child. For what is man's lifetime unless the memory of past events is woven with those of earlier times

Vivere est cogitare. (To think is to live)

A room without books is like a body without a soul.

Six mistakes mankind keeps making century after century: Believing that personal gain is made by crushing others; Worrying about things that cannot be changed or corrected; Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it; Refusing to set aside trivial preferences; Neglecting development and refinement of the mind; Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.

To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?

In times of war, the law falls silent. Silent enim leges inter arma

If we are not ashamed to think it, we should not be ashamed to say it.

Non nobis solum nati sumus. ( Not for ourselves alone are we born. )

Friendship improves happiness, and abates misery, by doubling our joys, and dividing our grief

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.

For there is but one essential justice which cements society, and one law which establishes this justice. This law is right reason, which is the true rule of all commandments and prohibitions. Whoever neglects this law, whether written or unwritten, is necessarily unjust and wicked.

Not to know what has been transacted in former times is to be always a child. If no use is made of the labours of past ages, the world must remain always in the infancy of knowledge.

The authority of those who teach is often an obstacle to those who want to learn.

For books are more than books, they are the life, the very heart and core of ages past, the reason why men worked and died, the essence and quintessence of their lives.

The life of the dead is set in the memory of the living.

Politicians are not born; they are excreted.

The face is a picture of the mind with the eyes as its interpreter.

The shifts of fortune test the reliability of friends.

To study philosophy is nothing but to prepare one's self to die.

The life of the dead is placed on the memories of the living. The love you gave in life keeps people alive beyond their time. Anyone who was given love will always live on in another's heart.

I criticize by creation, not by finding fault.

It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment.

What is morally wrong can never be advantageous, even when it enables you to make some gain that you believe to be to your advantage. The mere act of believing that some wrongful course of action constitutes an advantage is pernicious.